Pachliopta mariae (Semper, 1878)

OCCURENCE

Habitat: Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland
Murayama and Okamura (1973) found a specimen of this species in Quezon National Park at Atimonan, in south Luzon. The environment of this area is primary lowland rainforest, therefore it is likely that this is the preferred habitat of this species. Indeed, Page and Treadaway (2003) report that this species inhabits low to medium altitude secondary and primary forest. This species flies at a low level (particularly females) and frequents forest edges (Page and Treadaway 2004). The exact host plant is not known, but it is of the genus Aristolochia (Page and Treadaway 2003). This species is thought to interact with Papilio carolinensis , a species also found on Mindanao island (Jumalon 1967). This species is more abundant in the wet season (October-January), although it is found all year round (Page and Treadaway 2004).
(IUCN 2020)

Population: There are no quantitative population data available for this species, but it was thought to be widespread across the Philippines and not rare in a previous status assessment of the world's swallowtails (Collins and Morris 1985). Indeed, Ramirez and Mohagan (2012) found this species to be common across the Philippines. Especially, the nominate subspecies is thought to be common (Page and Treadaway 2004), for example, it is considered very common in Tandag, Suriago del Sur (Ramirez and Mohagan 2012). The other two subspecies are however described as uncommon across their respective ranges (Page and Treadaway 2004).
Range: This species is found in the Philippines (Racheli and Biondi 1989). The subspecies A. m. mariae occurs in the central region of the Philippines, including Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Mindanao (central and eastern; Page and Treadaway 2004), Panaon and Samar (Treadaway 1995, Page and Treadaway 2003). The subspecies A. m. almae is found in central and east Luzon and Polillo (Treadaway 1995), and the subspecies A. m. camarines is found in south-eastern Luzon (Treadaway 1995, Page and Treadaway 2003, J. Moonen pers. comm. 2019). Its estimated extent of occurrence is approximately 310,000 km².
(IUCN 2020)

Occurrence and observation maps

Map of Life
GBIF
i-Naturalist

References

• Collins, N.M. and Morris, M.G. 1985. Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World. The IUCN Red Data Book. IUCN, Gland and Cambridge.
• IUCN. 2020. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2020-3. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 10 December 2020).
• Jumalon, J.N. 1967. Two New Papilionids. Philippine Scientist 1(4): 114-118.
• Page, M.G.P. and Treadaway, C.G. 2003. Papilionidae of the Philippine Islands I. Descriptions of New Subspecies and Changes in Classification. Part 17, supplement 8. Butterflies of the world, Verlag Goecke & Evers.
• Page, M.G.P. and Treadaway, C.G. 2004. Butterflies of the World. Hillside Books, Canterbury.
• Racheli, T and Biondi, M. 1989. Biogeographical observations on the Phillipine Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera). boll. Zoo. 56: 333-347.
• Ramirez, R.K.C. and Mohagan, A.B. 2012. Diversity and Status of Butterflies in Maitum Village, Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Philippines. Asian Journal of Biodiversity 3: 74-112.
• Treadaway, C.G. 1995. Checklist of the butterflies of the Philippine islands (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Nachrichten Entomologischen Vereins Apollo (N.F.) Supplement 14: 7-118.